Friday, 29 January 2010

Episode four of Ookami Kakushi begins with what is a pretty typical scene of discussion between a dating couple (well, typical for anime anyway) - But, this series being what it is, there's more to this simple scene than meets the eye, as befitting an episode subtitled "foreboding".

To be honest, foreboding pretty much sums up Ookami Kakushi in its entirety thus far, and that doesn't change throughout this episode, starting out with Kana doing some research into local urban legends such as the supposed "red fireflies" through to (perhaps more importantly) Issei's continuing spree of bizarre behaviour, be it having another crack at seducing Hiro, his apparent concern at the lack of whatever medication he's taking at the local hospital, or his reaction when a girl he knows confesses that she likes him. Indeed, this latter point seems to be of particular importance when we consider what we saw at the very start (and later the end) of this episode, Nemuru's warnings to Isuzu earlier in the series, and now Issei's reaction to that just-mentioned confession.

Once again for this series, even normally every-day happenings are laced with a feeling of threat and fear, with Hiro and Mana's meeting with violinist Kaori and her subsequent meeting with a young man doing some research both hinted at none too subtly at having more to them than meets the idea. Come the end of the episode however, Hiro finally gets more directly involved in the bizarre goings-on around town at night, witnessing first hand whatever insanity is gripping the place in a rather grisly fashion.

It might have taken a while, but at least it finally seems as though Ookami Kakushi is getting into the swing of things, opening up its plot and story beyond simply suggesting that all is not well beneath the sweet exterior of all and sundry within the series. On the other hand, all of the plot exposition thus far seems pretty run of the mill for this kind of story-telling genre, but I suppose it remains to be seen how effectively it can continue to build up its story over the coming episodes. For now, let's just be grateful that things are finally moving forward and hopefully bringing some much-needed pace to the story.